Cool, Good, Excellent: 19 Defining Traits

by David Klemt

Cool gets people through your doors. Good impresses guests and keeps them coming back. Excellence inspires people to talk about you.

We throw around words like “cool,” “good,” and “excellent” all the time in this industry.

“Cool new spot.” “Good service.” “Excellent experience.”

But what do these terms actually mean when it comes to hospitality brands and strategy? More importantly, what do they mean to your guests, your team, and your community?

The truth is that perception is everything.

Cool. Good. Excellent. These aren’t just vibes, they’re measurable. If you’re not intentional about which of these traits your brand is projecting, the market will decide for you.

Let’s dig into the 19 traits that shape how your concept is perceived, trusted, and remembered.

Cool: The Magnetism Factor

Cool is what gets people talking. It draws guests in through a mix of confidence, curiosity, and charisma.

Researchers have identified six traits that consistently define cool across a multitude of cultures:

• Extraverted: Social, talkative, and expressive.
• Hedonistic: Oriented toward pleasure, excitement, and sensory experience.
• Powerful: Assertive, influential, and bold.
• Adventurous: Willing to take risks, and try new things.
• Open: Curious, flexible, and adaptive.
• Autonomous: Independent, self-driven, and unconcerned with conformity.

Sound familiar? These are the brands that pop off on social. The ones that get the influencer love, and that make guests feel seen.

You probably thought of a cool brand or two when you started reading this article. Hopefully, one was your own.

That said, there’s a catch: cool alone doesn’t carry a brand. It grabs attention, but without something deeper underneath, people move on. And they move on fast.

Good: The Retention Engine

If cool gets people through the door, good is what keeps them there.

The “good” brand traits are quieter, and that’s the point. They’re what make a concept feel dependable, thoughtful, and rooted.

There are eight of them:

• Agreeable: Cooperative, empathetic, easy to work with, and accommodating.
• Calm: Emotionally stable, composed, and clear-headed.
• Conforming: Consistent, reliable, and willing to follow a structure.
• Conscientious: Responsible, organized, and focused on detail.
• Secure: Trustworthy, steady, and emotionally and physically safe.
• Traditional: Grounded in shared values and norms.
• Universalistic: Treats all people equally and fairly.
• Warm: Friendly, kind, and welcoming.

Good brands don’t always make headlines, but they build habits. They’re the spots people go back to week after week. The places that make guests feel like regulars before they even are regulars.

Excellence: The Aspiration Layer

Cool is attention. Good is trust. Excellence? That’s respect.

When a brand is seen as excellent, it carries influence. It becomes a reference point, not just for guests but for peers, media, talent, and even future collaborators.

Five traits define excellence (or admirability):

• Attractive: Physically appealing, well-designed, and aesthetically impactful/appealing.
• Competent: Skilled, knowledgeable, and consistently excellent.
• Desirable: Sought after, relevant, and aspirational.
• Friendly: Approachable, kind, and human.
• Trendy: Aligned with current culture without being performative.

Excellent brands don’t just do things well, they inspire.

19 Traits. One Brand. What’s Your Mix?

Let’s be clear: you don’t need to embody all 19 traits at once. You shouldn’t even try to do so. That would be overwhelming for you, your team, and your guests.

But you do need to know which of these traits your brand currently embodies, and which it should emphasize more intentionally based on where you are in your journey.

Here’s a way to think about it:

• Goal 1: Focus your brand’s defining traits.
• Goal 2: Boost foot traffic or hype (leverage coolness)
• Goal 3: Improve retention, reviews, and culture (leverage goodness)
• Goal 4: Increase brand equity, word of mouth, and influence (leverage excellence)

This applies internally, too. Are you hiring for culture fit? Think about the traits your current team exudes.

Launching a new concept? Choose the traits that will define it from Day One.

At KRG Hospitality, our clients undergo an exercise that helps them identify their values. In turn, this exercise helps them identify the traits that will define their brand long before they ever open their doors for the first time.

Final Thought: Brand Perception is a Strategy, Not an Accident

You’ve built a concept. A vibe. A brand. But your guests don’t just see what you say you are, they feel what you are.

They feel cool, or calm, or cared for. They notice when things flow or when they don’t.

Cool gets them in. Good keeps them in. Excellence makes them talk.

Get the balance right, and you’re no longer reacting to perception, you’re shaping it. And in today’s market, that’s one of the most valuable competitive advantages you can have.

To help you strike that balance, I’ve got three deep-dive articles coming over the course of the next three weeks. One about coolness, one about goodness, and, you guessed it, one focused on excellence. Cheers!

Image: Canva